A top official of the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF) has revealed the disappointment of the football ruling body in Nigeria over the decision of Southampton forward Michael Obafemi who has picked Ireland ahead of Nigeria.

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Born in Dublin to Nigerian parents, the 18 year old who was raised in London represented Ireland at youth level but he is among the players Nigeria were eyeing to switch allegiance to the Super Eagles.

Obafemi caught the attention of the NFF when he made his maiden appearance for the first team of Southampton two years ago when he appeared off the bench in their Premier League game against Tottenham in January 2016.

That appearance made him the second youngest player to play for the Saints at first team level behind Luke Shaw and last weekend he made his second appearance against Manchester City, two years after his first game for the main team.

The pacy forward was high on the list of the NFF and according to vice-president of the association they tried to get him when the Eagles had a training camp in London but their effort didn’t see the light of the day.

” We tried getting across to him when we had a training camp in London but we couldn’t get his contact. The thing is we are wishing him a successful career with Ireland although we wish he had played for us”, Dikko told Owngoalnigeria.com in an exclusive chat.